Category Archives: Uncategorized

Nicolas Guilhot, Conspiracy: The History of a Political Obsession – Harvard University Press, October 2026

Posted on April 13, 2026 by stuartelden

Nicolas Guilhot, Conspiracy: The History of a Political Obsession – Harvard University Press, October 2026 Pundits, scholars, and the general public alike have argued that conspiratorial thinking is the greatest threat to liberal democracy. Nicolas Guilhot, however, challenges us to … Continue reading →

Posted in Alexandre Koyré, Hannah Arendt, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Georges Redard and the Linguistic Atlas of Iranian Speakers

Posted on April 12, 2026 by stuartelden

After Émile Benveniste suffered a major stroke in late 1969, his former student and friend Georges Redard planned to publish some of Benveniste’s incomplete projects. Redard was by this time teaching at the University of Bern in Switzerland. One volume … Continue reading →

Posted in Emile Benveniste, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Sunday Histories, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Harriet Hawkins, “Lithic Lives: Earth Stories from Cambodia’s Land of the Gemstones”, 9th Cosgrove Lecture, Royal Holloway, 11 May 2026

Posted on April 11, 2026 by stuartelden

Harriet Hawkins, “Lithic Lives: Earth Stories from Cambodia’s Land of the Gemstones“, 9th Cosgrove Lecture, Royal Holloway, 11 May 2026 A fragment of ruby, a hand-written list of sapphire sales from February 1918, a much-loved pop song crooned during Cambodia’s … Continue reading →

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Tiphaine Samoyault, Translation and Violence, trans. Alexander Hertich, Princeton University Press, September 2026

Posted on April 9, 2026 by stuartelden

Tiphaine Samoyault, Translation and Violence, trans. Alexander Hertich, Princeton University Press, September 2026 The rapid development of AI-powered translation tools is making translation more accessible than ever before, raising in a dramatic new way the old utopian promise of translation—to … Continue reading →

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Two dedications from Georges Dumézil – to Alfred Ernoux and Luc Estang

Posted on April 8, 2026 by stuartelden

With only rare exceptions, I’ve not tended to buy second-hand books with a view to the edition or dedications. Generally, I’ve been getting hold of copies because of the content, and the relatively few times I’ve looked for a first … Continue reading →

Posted in Georges Bataille, Georges Dumézil, Henri Lefebvre, Michel Foucault, Sunday Histories, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Julian Brigstocke, Nonauthoritarian Authority: Cities, Materiality, and the Aesthetics of Power – LSE Press, March 2026 (print and open access)

Posted on April 7, 2026 by stuartelden

Julian Brigstocke, Nonauthoritarian Authority: Cities, Materiality, and the Aesthetics of Power – LSE Press, March 2026 (print and open access) Authority is not a word with many positive connotations. It suggests power-hungry dictators, trigger-happy police, stifling bureaucracies, and monumental urban … Continue reading →

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Clémentine Fauré-Bellaïche, A Protestant Air: Gide, Sartre, Barthes, and the Religion of Literary Modernity –  Cornell University Press, June 2026

Posted on April 6, 2026 by stuartelden

Clémentine Fauré-Bellaïche, A Protestant Air: Gide, Sartre, Barthes, and the Religion of Literary Modernity –  Cornell University Press, June 2026 A Protestant Air focuses on the Protestant connection linking three intellectual giants of twentieth-century French thought: André Gide, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Roland … Continue reading →

Posted in Jean-Paul Sartre, Roland Barthes, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Maurice Blanchot’s Politics and His War-Time Reviews of Georges Dumézil

Posted on April 5, 2026 by stuartelden

The philosopher, literary theorist and novelist Maurice Blanchot’s politics have come under periodic scrutiny. Leslie Hill describes the source of the controversy:  As early as 1931 and 1932, while starting out with the Journal des débats, Blanchot was writing political articles … Continue reading →

Posted in Albert Camus, Georges Bataille, Georges Dumézil, Jean-Paul Sartre, Mapping Indo-European Thought in Twentieth Century France, Maurice Blanchot, Sunday Histories, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Sakora Christmas, Territorial Natures: Imperial Japan and the Mongolian Question – University of Chicago Press, October 2026

Posted on April 4, 2026 by stuartelden

Sakora Christmas, Territorial Natures: Imperial Japan and the Mongolian Question – University of Chicago Press, October 2026 A critical account of the Japanese occupation in Inner Mongolia. Early in the twentieth century, the steppe borderlands between China and Mongolia erupted in violence. … Continue reading →

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The Story of Capital: Book Launch with David Harvey in Conversation with Adam Tooze

Posted on April 3, 2026 by stuartelden

The Story of Capital: Book Launch with David Harvey in Conversation with Adam Tooze – discussing The Story of Capital: What Everyone Should Know About How Capital Works (Verso, 2026), via Reading Capital with David Harvey

Posted in Adam Tooze, David Harvey, Uncategorized | 3 Comments